Paper Moon
by heartillyangel
Summary: At the beginning of summer and the end, a Paper Lantern festival is held in Konoha. Underneath all of the lanterns, Sakura met the guy who she knows is the one. Does she really know him or not? And if she does, is it her friend? [SakuSasu]
1. Chapter I

**Paper Lantern Night by heartillyangel **

**Short Summary **– The major holiday season is coming up and a paper lantern night is held on the first night of the holidays and the last night. Sakura ends up going with Team 7 and she meets her match. Unfortunately, she has no clue who he is, and he has no clue who she is either. Who is he?

**Chapter 1 - I don't want to go **

This was the last day of missions. The next day was the holiday season. A great day for all ninjas on endless missions. Sakura on the other hand didn't want to go on holidays. She'd be separated from Sasuke-kun, her long time crush. She sighed. At least the holidays are only for 5 weeks, she thought tensely.

"Hey there Sakura!" called out a familiar voice.

Sakura turned to see who it was. It was Ino, one of her good friends.

"Ohayou Ino," she replied to the pretty blonde.

"So Sakura, have you picked out your kimono for the paper lantern night dance yet?" she asked excitedly. 

"No Ino. I decided not to go," Sakura said.

"Nani!!!??? Are you out of your mind? This paper lantern night holiday comes once a year! And I heard that Sasuke-kun is actually taking a date and I have to see that!" Ino said in one breath.

Sakura had already predicted that Ino would react this way. It was so typical of her to overreact when there was a major holiday festival and someone wasn't attending. Now, she had to sit through all of Ino's lectures. She was definitely not in the mood right now.

"Sakura, are you with me or what?" Ino said looking at her weirdly.

"Sorry, Ino. I was daydreaming for a bit, so never mind me," Sakura said nervously.

"Sakura!" Ino blurted out.

"Nani Ino?" Sakura asked.

"You have to go to the paper lantern night festival!" Ino said not meeting Sakura's eye.

"Why Ino? You're not planning to drag me there are you?" Sakura demanded.

Knowing Ino, she probably cooked up a plan to get me hooked up with a guy or worse to actually dance with one! Sakura thought shivering trying to think what guy Ino would get for her. Knowing her, it'd probably be a Sasuke-kun look-a-like or maybe even Rock Lee! He was really nice and had a major crush on her, but she couldn't exactly picture him as her date to the festival.

"No Sakura. I brought you a kimono as a late birthday present; I had hoped you would wear it tomorrow night. I guess since you're not going I'll give it to Hinata or TenTen. What a shame, it was really pretty and made out of fine silk, just like you love them. But...." Ino said.

Sakura sighed. Ino had found her weakness. Pretty kimonos. There was no way Ino was going to let her say no right now. She would just have to say that she'd go to the festival to get Ino to quit hassling her to attend it and to get the present off her. Knowing Ino it might be actually a pretty one!

"So is that a yes Sakura?" Ino asked happily.

"Yes Ino. I might as well go," Sakura said gloomily.

"That's the spirit! Follow me! I'll give you your present!" Ino said cheerfully.

So Sakura stood up and followed Ino to her house. On the way they happened to pass the noodle bar where one of her team-mates Naruto loved to eat at. Unfortunately Naruto was there eating with the shy Hinata.

"Come on Hinata! My treat! Pick anything!" Naruto said smiling at her.

"But, Naruto-kun...Are you sure?" Hinata whispered blushing madly.

"Yes Hinata, Sakura-chan would never want to eat with me, same with Sasuke. So that only leaves you," Naruto said.

Sakura and Ino both felt like they were snooping on them. They both knew that Hinata wasn't one of Sasuke-kun's fan girls but actually had a major crush on Naruto. So they had managed to find a way around the bar without embarrassing Hinata. They knew that if she spotted her eating with Naruto, she would be really embarrassed and would never ever give them the juicy details about that date.

"That was so sweet of Naruto. Don't you think Ino?" Sakura asked.

"Yeah it was...if only Shikamaru would do that for me. But as usual, he would say 'this is too troublesome'," Ino murmured.

"Nani?" Asked Sakura.

"Nothing!" Ino said blushing furiously.

They continued walking until Ino motioned to Sakura that this was her house so they had to stop.

A/N: How was that for a first chapter? Tell me in your reviews! And if I don't get at least 7 or 8 reviews, no second chapter! Haha. I'm joking.

Next chapter: The best present a friend can give!


	2. Chapter II

A/N: Thanks for all your nice reviews! I don't actually know whether this would be a Sakura/Neji or Sakura/Sasuke fanfiction yet. I'm still thinking of ideas! So here's the second chapter! Enjoy!

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Naruto!!

Chapter 2 The best present a friend can give

"Welcome Sakura," said Ino's mother.

"Ohayou gozaimasu," Sakura said

"There's no need for the formal Japanese Sakura," Ino's mother smiled.

Ino was standing in the corner waiting for Sakura to be done talking to her mother. Knowing her mother, she'd probably take forever. So Ino stood there, until Sakura finally remembered why she was at Ino's house. To get the kimono.

"Sakura, are you going to the festival tomorrow night?" asked Ino's mother.

"She is mother," Ino said quickly pushing Sakura upstairs.

Sakura and Ino walked into Ino's bedroom. Everything was baby pink, even her wardrobe!

"Wow, I've never seen so much pink in my life," Sakura muttered.

"So, Sakura. Here's your present, you have to try it on!" Ino said happily.

"Thanks Ino, this is the best present a girl can ever receive!" Sakura said hugging Ino tightly.

Ino walked outside and shut her bedroom door. She knew that Sakura needed her privacy to change into that pretty kimono. She sat down slowly on the floor. Soon her happy face turned into sadness. It was only yesterday that I poured my heart out to Shikamaru, she thought sadly. She wanted to burst into tears at that moment. How could he be so mean?

_Flashback _

"_Shikamaru, there you are! I was looking all over for you!" an exited Ino called. _

"_Don't you have someone better to look for, like maybe Sasuke-kun?" Shikamaru asked sarcastically. _

"_But, Shikamaru... I'm over Sasuke-kun. I like someone else now..." Ino said softly. _

"_Don't tell me, is it Choji? Cos' I know he likes you," Shikamaru asked. _

"_Shut up Shikamaru! I like you, happy?!" Ino spat. _

"_Why me?" he asked himself quietly. _

"_I've always liked you, ever since we graduated from the ninja academy; you were always lazy but so what? I liked you for your brains and inner strength. I only told everyone I liked Sasuke-kun, was because I was afraid they'd tease me cos' I liked you..." Ino told Shikamaru. _

"_So, will you come to the paper lantern night festival as my date?" she asked smiling. _

_She was always bossy, she always thought about herself first, she never cared what others felt and she never gave me a break, Shikamaru thought. She's pretty, but I can't imagine why she'd like someone like me. I like her, but I don't want to express my feelings to her yet. _

"_So Shikamaru, is that a yes or a no?" _

"_Sorry Ino, I have a date already!" Shikamaru said and ran off quickly before she'd start crying. _

_Ino stood there like she'd just been slapped really hard on the face. She'd never actually been rejected by a boy before, so she didn't know how much it hurt inside. So, she ran home crying. _

_End flashback _

Thinking of that moment still brought tears to her eyes. But just as her tears started to come out of her attractive blue eyes, Sakura called, "Come on in Ino, you should see it!"

So, she put a fake smile on her face and walked into her bedroom. She complimented Sakura and Sakura was so happy that she started to cry. Tears of happiness. Ino couldn't stand it much longer so she let all her tears flow. All her anger, pain and shock from that day.

Sakura noticed that Ino's face was becoming red and very wet. So, she leaned down to look at Ino's face. She was crying.

"Are you okay Ino?" Sakura asked.

That made Ino cry even harder. So Sakura got her some tissues and handed them to her. After a while Ino calmed down. So Sakura asked her what was wrong.

Ino told her everything about what happened with Shikamaru and how she felt really rejected from him.

Sakura was very sympathetic to her. So they made a plan to make Shikamaru wish he'd never said no to Ino!

"Stop fussing over me. I'm fine now, thanks to you Sakura. Wow, you look fabulous in that kimono! I knew it was made for you when I laid my eyes on it," Ino squealed.

The kimono was red with white flowers all over it and it had and orange bow (or belt?) wrapped around her waist. With her pink hair in a bun with chopsticks, it completed the outfit.

"Thanks so much for it Ino!" Sakura said. She put her everyday clothes in a bag and walked out the door.

"I'll walk you home Sakura, can't wait to see people's reactions when they see you in that!" Ino said and they both squealed.

So they both walked for a while until they met Rock Lee.

Oh no, not Lee! They both thought.

"Sakura-san! You look pretty, no wonderful, no...oh whatever. You look fantastic! Would you like to accompany me to the festival?" He asked hopefully.

"Ummm, Lee, I'll give you an answer soon, I promise," Sakura told him.

Then all of a sudden Lee burst into tears. "Gai-sensei, I finally did it. I asked the woman of my dreams on a date, you should be proud of me!" Lee said sniffling.

Sakura sweat dropped and same with Ino. What a strange person. People these days. sigh

Next chapter: A new tradition


	3. Chapter III

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Naruto!

Thanks for all your reviews people! I want you to take a vote. Sasuke/Sakura or Sakura/and someone else. Please vote via your reviews. Thanks a bunch!

Chapter 3 - A new tradition

Tsunade-sama was looking through books on the past Paper Lantern Night Festival celebrations. _Humph.... What on earth was the Third thinking? There are many young ninjas out there who will be attending the festival. And they all knew who they were dancing with! We need a new tradition here! Maybe if they all wore masks, then there would be some romance...Tsunade thought smiling. _

"Shizune! Tell the entire village there is a new tradition! Everyone must wear masks to the festival tomorrow night!" Tsunade called.

_This is going to be the best Paper Lantern Night festival Konoha has ever had! Thought Tsunade. _

Sasuke-kun was walking through the streets of Konoha on his own. The Paper Lantern Night festival was tomorrow and at least a dozen of his fangirls threw themselves at his feet this morning! _Why can't they just leave me alone? Sakura and Ino stopped liking me, so why can't they? He thought. _

"Ohhh Sasuke-kun! Please be my date for tomorrow!" called out a voice.

"Why don't you just get a life!" he yelled back.

Instead he was looking directly at Sakura; his teammate from Team 7. He was surprised. He had thought Sakura had gotten over her ridiculous crush on him. Apparently she didn't.

"Sasuke-kun, I was joking," she said smiling.

"Sakura, if you think that was funny, it wasn't. You're the thirteenth girl to ask me today then," Sasuke-kun said coolly.

"Sasuke-kun, haven't you heard the news? There's a new tradition! Masks!" Sakura said excitedly.

_Great, that means I could be dancing with any girl tomorrow night. Including Sakura! He thought tensely. _

"Bye Sasuke-kun!" she called and ran off.

_Luckily I remembered to meet TenTen at the kimono shop. Otherwise, I could've stayed there and annoyed Sasuke-kun! She thought giggling. _

Meanwhile.....

"No way Iruka-sensei! I can't wear a mask tomorrow night!" Naruto shouted.

"Naruto, why not?" his academy school teacher asked curiously.

"Because, what if I'm dancing with Ino? (pictures Ino dancing with him) I want to know who I'm dancing with!" Naruto said in horror.

Iruka-sensei chuckled softly. "That's the point Naruto. You dance with people you'd never dream of dancing with!" he said pointing his chopsticks in Naruto's direction.

"That's not going to happen! I want another bowl of ramen!" he shouted happily.

"Narutooooooooo!" Iruka-sensei yelled and fell off his seat.

_Naruto-kun? Hinata thought as she heard a shout that sounded like Naruto's voice. _

Hinata blushed. She had a crush on Naruto for a long time. But, he never took notice of her. Not until he had seen her walking near the ramen store and decided to treat her to a bowl of ramen. She still blushed at the thought of that moment.

"What's wrong Hinata?" a low voice asked.

Hinata turned around quickly only to meet Neji's white eyes. She let out a little squeal and blushed. Neji was still wondering what was going on until a running pink figure knocked him down on his back.

"Ouch," Sakura mumbled and touched her aching head. That's when she realised she was on top of Hyuuga Neji!

"What's your excuse this time Haruno?" Neji asked sarcastically.

"Ummm.....uh, well, you see," Sakura mumbled.

Hinata managed to let out a small laugh. This was totally something she never dreamed Neji would get into!

"Never mind Haruno, just get off me!"

"Sorry," Sakura replied sarcastically.

So Sakura quickly got up and said a quick hi to Hinata before she ran off again.

Neji stared at Hinata. His cheeks turned a light rose pink. He hoped that his cousin didn't see the colour of his face. He would rather listen to Gai-sensei's talk about youth than suffer embarrassment.

"So, Neji, does that mean you like like Sakura?"

"Hinata-sama, what gave you that idea?" he asked curiously.

"Well, you sounded like you wanted Sakura to stay on top of you for longer..." Hinata replied softly.

Neji turned even redder than he already was.

Meanwhile behind the broken fences....

"Kakashi! It seems like that my student has a liking for yours!" Gai-sensei said cheerfully.

Kakashi not looking up from his 'Come Come Paradise' novel said "Isn't that obvious?"

"You're not even looking Kakashi! Hinata has a liking for Naruto as well!" Kurenai pointed out.

"Well, I wonder who my students will like?" Asuma said thinking who Shikamaru, Ino and Choji would be fond of. Maybe Shikamaru with Ino and Choji with a girl who loved food and was always so lazy!

"We'll find out tomorrow night won't we?" asked Kakashi.

"Hai!" all the instructors said in agreement.

A/N: As always, please remember to review and to vote who you think the pairings should be! Til' next time!

Next chapter: A dance in the moonlight


	4. Chapter IV

**A/N**: Hey there everyone! It feels like forever since I last updated! (I know, I know, I updated like last week!) Thanks so much for your great reviews and I know you all want Sakura/Lee, Sakura/Sasuke, Neji/TenTen, Shikamaru/Ino, Hinata/Naruto, Kiba/Hinata, Shino/Hinata, Naruto/Ino and a love triangle with Sasuke/Sakura/Neji. I still haven't made up my mind on the pairings yet. I'm so sorry!

**Disclaimer: **I never did own Naruto.

Chapter 4 - A dance in the moonlight

It was finally that day. The first night of summer and the night of the Paper Lantern Night festival. Sure, everyone in the village was still busy making last minute preparations, but the entire village was beautiful. It was to be mainly covered in paper lanterns and cherry blossoms.

Sakura woke up early that morning. If Ino hadn't given her that kimono, she wouldn't be this excited. _Yay! Today's the first night of summer and the first night of the Paper Lantern Night festival! Sakura thought contentedly. _

All of the young ninjas in the village were assigned errands to do from their instructor. All the teams' errands were to help out with the decorations.

"Sakura-chan, you finally made it!" Naruto called out happily.

Sasuke-kun just gave her a smirk that made girls faint. Sakura on the other hand, was resistant to it. She gave him a half-smile and walked over next to Naruto.

"When the hell is Kakashi-sensei gonna come?" Naruto asked Sakura with a hopeful smile.

"And what makes you think that I know that?" She replied.

"Let's see, Kakashi-sensei always praises you, he rescues you when Sasuke and I aren't there and...." Naruto said counting them off.

Sakura sighed loudly and Sasuke-kun looked over at her. He never realised it but he thought that Sakura actually looked pretty. With her cherry blossom coloured hair and her long slim white legs, she really attracted him to her. So he continued to stare at her back, until Kakashi-sensei came.

"WHERE THE HELL WERE YOU KAKASHI-SENSEI?! DON"T YOU DARE TELL US ONE OF YOUR EXCUSES!!!" Naruto and Sakura yelled together.

"Excuses? They really did happen to me! This time, if you're gonna ask me what happened, I was helping Gai-sensei with something," Kakashi said slowly.

"Liar!"

Sasuke-kun was still in his trance, until Kakashi-sensei snapped his fingers.

"What was that for Kakashi-sensei?" He asked furiously.

"You were in a daze and one question. Do you like like Sakura?" He asked curiously.

"Is that any of your business?" Sasuke-kun said turning light pink.

"Maybe not, but I'm your teacher and we notice things about you kids and your cheeks are turning pink, so I'll assume that you do," Kakashi said.

_Oh crap. My teacher finds out that I have a thing for one of my teammates. This is bad, I mean last year I thought she was so annoying, but now I'm attracted to her? Oh boy, Sasuke-kun thought. _

"Come on Sasuke, Sakura and Naruto already left to help out with the decorations," Kakashi pointed out.

"Fine sensei," Sasuke-kun replied.

Meanwhile....

"Look Lee, if you want to win a woman's heart, you must play the game hard to get!" Gai-sensei whispered to Lee.

"Sensei, I did that and she still thought that I was weird and a thick brows!" He whispered back.

"Idiot!" Gai-sensei said and punched Lee hard on his chin.

"Sensei!" Lee said sniffling and hugged his teacher.

"Lee youth is a hard time to go through, but if you take my advice, you can be just like me and you'll win your woman's heart!" Gai-sensei said and was doing his nice guy pose.

"Oh my god, I hope they don't humiliate us tonight, right Neji?" TenTen asked hopefully.

"Huh? What'd you say TenTen?" Neji asked.

TenTen picked up the lantern. "Never mind Neji," _Where on earth is his mind today? I mean whenever I ask him a question he usually replies or scowls. Today, he didn't have a clue what I was saying! TenTen thought. _

Not far from where Gai-sensei's team was working, Asuma and Kurenai's team were working together.

_This is so troublesome; I mean working with Ino as my partner? Oh god, she's sending me death stares again, thought Shikamaru. _

"Don't bump me; I'm trying to tie the lanterns up without you bumping me!" Ino snapped.

"I didn't!" Shikamaru pointed out.

"There, you did it again!" Ino snapped angrily.

"Ino, I didn't mean it...I'm sorry," Shikamaru said.

Ino looked into his eyes and ran off crying. She just couldn't face him again. Hinata who was one of her closest friends ran off to find her.

_God, girls are so sensitive and emotional sometimes. Maybe that's why I like Ino...thought Shikamaru._

Hinata already knew what happened between her and Shikamaru, but she ran off to comfort her anyway.

Kiba, Shino and Choji all saw what had happened between Ino and Shikamaru and they were having a little discussion.

"Poor Ino!" Choji said worriedly.

"I'm beginning to think you like her, because ever since you heard about the argument you've been worrying non-stop about her! Wasn't Shikamaru your best friend?" Shino asked coolly.

Choji turned bright red. Shino was right. He did care about Ino, but also knew she liked Shikamaru and that he liked her back. He broke her heart and Choji was still mad at Shikamaru about that.

"I agree with Shino," Kiba said excitedly and Akamaru barked in agreement.

"Well, I might...have a crush on her..." Choji said nervously.

Kurenai and Asuma were doing some errands but were mainly spying on their students. They found out many things like Choji like Ino, Ino was furious at Shikamaru and Shikamaru was still hopelessly in love with Ino.

"Ahhhhhh!!!!! This lantern hurts!" Naruto cried.

"Naruto, if you knew how to put them up then you wouldn't be in this situation!" Sakura screeched.

Sasuke-kun looked at her admiringly. She could easily shut Naruto up.

"Sensei? How come you're not working with us?" Naruto asked curiously.

Kakashi looked up and saw Naruto's mischievous grinning face. Kakashi had a shocked look on his face. If Naruto saw the 'Come Come Paradise' book in his hands, Naruto would never stop teasing him about it!

"Sensei, is that a dirty book you have there in your hands?" Naruto asked playfully.

"This? Oh no Naruto. It's...a well book that all teachers must read on how to control students! Yes, that's it!" Kakashi said nervously.

"Oh yeah? Well, why is there a man chasing a woman on the cover and the letter 'R' on the back? You can't get yourself out of this one Sensei!" Naruto said happily.

"Naruto!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Kakashi yelled.

Later in the day....

"At last we finished all the decorations!" Sakura exclaimed.

"Hai!" TenTen, Ino and Hinata agreed.

They were all going over to Ino's house where they would all get changed into their kimonos and go to the festival with their masks on: a gift from their instructors. So after saying bye to the instructors, they made their way to Ino's house.

"Neji wasn't even yelling at me today!" TenTen told Hinata.

"Maybe he was thinking about tonight, that was all he could think about," Hinata replied.

"Really? Oh gosh..." Sakura said thinking about yesterday's incident.

Ino who was usually the loudmouth was unreasonably quiet today. All her friends knew about what happened between her and Shikamaru. So they didn't question her about her quietness.

"Welcome to my house guys," Ino said softly.

TenTen and Hinata had never been over to Ino's house so they were surprised to see a neat two storey house.

"Time for getting changed and then the masks!" TenTen cheered.

TenTen walked inside Ino's room to change. Sakura in the bathroom. Ino in her mum's room and Hinata in the guest room.

When they were done, they walked out at the same time to see the others kimono. They were all shocked.

TenTen was wearing a purple kimono with a yellow collar with a blue obi. This was the first time all the girls saw TenTen with her hair down. It was long and unbelievably shiny.

Hinata was wearing a dark yellow kimono with a big red flower on one of her sleeves. Her obi was a pretty light pastel pink colour.

Ino's kimono was red and made her creamy white skin look perfect. On her waist the obi (which was a lighter shade of red) hung perfectly on her.

Sakura was wearing a red kimono with white leaves on it. And her obi was orange and black. It suited really well on her.

"Oh my god TenTen, your kimono is so adorable!" Ino squealed apparently in high spirits again.

"Not as adorable as yours! It makes your skin glow a lot!" TenTen said.

"I love all your kimonos!" Said a content Hinata.

Now that all the fuss on the kimonos was over, they all went downstairs to get put on their masks.

"Tsunade-sama's idea for the masks was great!" Sakura said.

"I second that," said Hinata gleefully.

They all put on their masks and made their way to the village square where the festival was to be held.

"Damn it! This kimono won't get on me!" Naruto wailed.

"Idiot. Let me help you," Sasuke-kun said.

Kiba, Shino, Neji, Lee, Choji and Shikamaru were shocked. Sasuke-kun helping Naruto instead of mocking him? This was new.

"Thanks Sasuke," Naruto mumbled.

"Whatever Naruto," Sasuke replied.

All of them finally finished and they all put on their masks and made their way to the square.

"I want to dance with Sakura-san!" Lee said hopefully.

"No way, I'm dancing with her!" Naruto argued.

"Both of you won't know who you're dancing with. The masks. Remember now?" Neji said tensely. In his mind, he was hoping to dance with Sakura himself.

Kiba, Sasuke, Choji, Shikamaru and Shino didn't really care for who they danced with. They just wanted to see who their instructors would dance with. This was going to be a night to remember!

A/N: This was a real long chapter, so sorry if I stuffed it up. It took me 3 hours to write, but I hope you enjoy it! Til' the next chappie!


	5. Chapter V

**A/N: **Hey there guys! Sorry that I didn't upload this chapter to the site earlier. I was really busy thinking about the plot and all that. Hope everyone enjoys this chapter as much as much as I enjoyed writing it!

**Chapter 5 **A dance in the moonlight part II

All the girls and boys from Kakashi's, Kurenai's, Gai's and Asuma's team weren't at the main square yet where the festival was going to be held. They were still finding their way there. All the instructors knew who was underneath each mask since they went out together and brought their students the masks.

"Help me Gai, how do I get Kurenai to dance with me?" Asuma requested.

"Asuma, even though you look like you're 40, you still act like a 14 year old youth. Sit back, relax and watch the master of youth teach you a lesson!" Gai said with a smile that revealed his shiny white teeth.

He walked up to where Kurenai was standing.

"Kurenai, would you care to dance with me?" Gai asked.

"Not if my life depended on it Gai," Kurenai snorted.

Gai walked back to the other instructors hopelessly. "Some help Gai," Asuma said sarcastically.

Iruka and Kakashi however were laughing at the display.

"What the hell are you laughing at Kakashi?" Gai asked furiously.

Kakashi, who wasn't paying any attention to what Gai said, looked up at him with a confused look.

"KAKASHI!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

"I'll show you Asuma," Iruka said confidently. So he walked up nervously to where Anko, Chizune, Kurenai and Tsunade were standing.

"Anko, will you dance with me?" Iruka asked hopefully.

"Might as well, if I say no to you then Gai will bug me to dance with him," Anko said smiling.

So Iruka and Anko walked to the middle of the square and started to dance slowly to the soft music.

Gai saw this and his mouth dropped wide open. _How could Iruka do that when he had no professional training? I'm the master of dates and dances! He thought gloriously. _

"Look, we're almost at the square!" TenTen pointed out.

"At last," Sakura mumbled. It was extremely hard to walk around in a kimono but somehow Sakura miraculously managed.

"I wonder if Neji-nii-san and Naruto-kun are here yet..." Hinata asked in a voice you could barely hear.

"Don't worry Hinata, knowing the guys, they're probably at home playing poker or something like that," Ino said thinking of Shikamaru. His face almost brought tears to her sapphire blue eyes.

They were almost at the square's entrance when they were knocked over by some people running fast.

Sakura fell back immediately and a strong arm caught her just in time. She breathed in relief. She was afraid of wrecking her pretty kimono. She looked up to see who her knight in shining armour was and she was shocked to meet someone's onyx black eyes. _Is that Rock Lee? She thought shivering. After all this time, Lee still scares me with his thick brows!_

She quickly got up and brushed back a piece of her pink hair from her face. "Thanks,"

"That's ok, just be careful. Lee and Naruto are in their competitive moods again." He said gently.

_So it's not Lee. Thank god! Then who is he? She thought. _All Sakura could do was stare into his pretty black eyes. Then she snapped out of her little trance, thanks to TenTen.

"Come on already! The first dance is going to begin soon!" TenTen called out to them.

"Who are you?" Sakura asked him.

"That's the point of the masks isn't it? To let someone wonder who you are," He pointed out.

"Oh yeah," Sakura said giggling.

_Her voice sounds like Sakura but then again, I can't tell because of her mask. How many people in this village have pink cotton candy hair again? He thought. _

Both of them made it to the square and said a quick bye when they spotted their friends.

"That should've been me helping up Sakura-san!" Lee wailed miserably.

"It's your fault think-brows! You just had to challenge me to a race at the last minute!" Naruto snapped.

"Who cares about who started it? Sasuke was the one who helped Sakura anyway," Shino said coolly.

At the mention of Sasuke's name, Lee and Naruto were fuming with rage. How come he always had to come in and play hero to Sakura? Sure Naruto had a crush on Hinata now, but he wanted Sakura to respect him.

All the instructors saw their students and walked up to them. Gai, Kakashi and Asuma to the boys and Kurenai to the girls.

"Hey there girls. Glad you could make it in time for the first dance," Kurenai said.

"Kurenai-sensei, you look beautiful," Hinata said softly.

"Thanks Hinata, same with you. Sakura, TenTen and Ino, your kimonos make your figures look perfect," Kurenai said ecstatically.

"Thanks Kurenai, your hair looks great" Ino complimented.

Kurenai had her hair up into a bun with two strands of hair let down.

"Tonight's the big night. You have no missions tonight since it's the holidays. But you have one goal, to dance with one of the boys over there. Unfortunately, you don't know who you're dancing with, since they all have masks on," Kurenai said pointing to where the guys were.

"Lee, why are you crying?" Gai asked his student.

"It's fate. That's what made you want to race Naruto and knock Sakura over," Neji said calmly.

Lee still sniffling ran up to hug his teacher. That comment from Neji made him want to punch that idiot hard in his white face. That would show him not to continue on and on about 'fate and destiny'.

"Great, now the girls know that it's Lee and Gai hugging. I mean it's so obvious isn't it?" Choji asked.

"Yeah. Who else gets so emotional and then runs up to hug their teacher?" Shikamaru pointed out.

Naruto, who had seen this scene before when his team met Lee during the Chuunin exam, was laughing his head off.

"Hide me Shikamaru!" Choji yelped and hid behind Shikamaru.

"Why Choji?" Shikamaru asked him.

"Our parents are standing over there. My dad thinks I'm at home learning how to cook my own meals, not here at the festival! Plus, he'll laugh at me when he finds out I borrowed one of his kimonos! Mine won't fit me anymore!" Choji whispered nervously.

Kiba heard it and looked at Choji's kimono. It made him look 10 kilos bigger, but other than that, it looked ok on him. No one could probably tell that it was his father's at first unless they asked him.

"Arf Arf!" It was Akamaru barking softly. Kiba had to sneak his puppy with him. Akamaru couldn't stand being apart from Kiba. But if Kiba let Akamaru sit on his head, then the girls would know that it's him right away. So he had no choice, but to hide his puppy inside his kimono.

"Was that Akamaru I heard?" Shino asked.

"Umm....maybe....that was my excitement to dance with the girls," Kiba said laughing nervously.

Shino glared at him. He didn't know why Kiba had to lie to him. He already knew that Kiba intended to bring Akamaru with him. He heard Kiba talk to Akamaru when they were at the Hyuuga mansion earlier in the afternoon.

"Boys, you have a mission tonight. To get one of the girls to dance with you. Since there are four of them and eight of you, you might have to share your dancing partners with others," Asuma explained.

"Kakashi-sensei, are you going to ask a lady to dance with you? The fifth is still available for you, if you want her that is," Naruto whispered slyly.

"Hmmm? Naruto? I might dance with her, you never know," Kakashi replied lazily.

This was the only occasion where he didn't bring his dirty book with him. He would've brought it, but the other instructors made a deal with him. If he dared to bring the book with him and read it that night, then he'd have to go up and be a backup dancer for Gai. Gai was planning on performing that night. Kakashi didn't want to humiliate himself in front of his students, so he had to give in to them.

"Eww sensei. I was just joking. She's a fifty year old grandmother. Sure she looks like she's 25, but eww," Naruto said in disgust and walked away from Kakashi.

"Do you get the mission?" Asuma asked the boys again.

"I get the point Asuma!" Shikamaru shouted.

"Good, because the girls are walking to the middle of the square already and you don't want them to dance with anyone else do you?" Asuma said teasingly.

But to his surprise all the boys walked out to the square already.

"Look, the silver moon is out already," Hinata said pointing to the sky.

"It's beautiful," Sakura breathed.

"Yeah, we agree," TenTen and Ino said in agreement.

Sakura was still staring at the beautiful moon, until someone tapped her lightly on the shoulder. It was the boy with the black onyx eyes again.

"Care to dance with me?" He asked.

"Not really, but I accept," Sakura said blissfully.

He took her hand and held onto it until he found a spot for them to dance.

"How romantic," Hinata said.

"Want to dance with me fair damsel?" A familiar voice asked Ino.

With his round stomach, large face and big kimono, Ino knew instantly that it was Choji. She wanted to dance with her _other _team mate, not him. If she danced with him, Shikamaru might assume that she was over him and she liked Choji.

"No thanks _Choji_," Ino said and walked off sulking.

_How'd she know it was me already? She's so smart, that's why I admire her and like her, thought Choji. _

"Want to dance with me?" Someone asked Hinata. That startled her so she quickly turned around. She was staring into these big blue eyes. Instantly she knew that it was Naruto, so she quickly accepted before another girl decided to dance with him. One month ago, Naruto had gotten popular with the girls, and she knew that they only liked him because Sasuke-kun was rumoured to have a crush on someone.

Ino was still stomping around looking for Shikamaru. Boy was he hard to find!

Neji was standing nearby to where Sasuke and his partner were dancing. He thought instantly that it was Sakura, because of her pink hair. He felt a little jealous since he was about to ask her to dance with him until Sasuke saw him and quickly ran to her and asked her to dance with him instead.

_How'd I change this fast? If this festival happened in the winter break, I wouldn't have cared who that Sasuke danced with. Now I'm actually feeling jealous! This is bad, Neji thought. _

Ino finally thought she spotted Shikamaru. She ran up to him and tapped him on his shoulder. When the guy turned around, she was shocked! Sure he looked like Shikamaru, but it was actually his father! What was Mr.Nara doing here at the festival? Before he could see who he was, she dashed off quickly.

"Oh my god, that was so close," Ino said to herself.

"What was so close?" A voice from behind her asked.

She turned around quickly and met a boy's strong gaze. _Is that Shikamaru? She thought. _

"Never mind then. Want to dance?" He asked.

She gulped. What if it was? She and Sakura had planned to humiliate him onstage when Ino was singing. She felt relieved to see him, so she ran up to him and wrapped her arms tightly around him.

_If this is actually Ino, I want to get out of here as quickly as possible. Then again, I heard rumours that Ino's cousin was visiting Konoha, thought Shikamaru. Maybe it's her cousin hugging me, not her. _

"Yes! I want to dance!" She said excitedly.

So then he led Ino to a spot on the square and they started dancing.

"Isn't it beautiful?" Sakura asked him.

"It's perfect," He told her.

Sakura wrapped her arms around his neck and whispered to him, "Nothing in my whole life can compare to this moment," _This is perfect; nothing could spoil our special moment. Sakura thought._

"I like dancing with you," He said.

Neji who had seen enough of Sasuke dancing with Sakura walked up to them and cut in.

"May I cut in?" Neji asked.

_I can think of one thing though, someone cutting in on my dance with the date of my dreams! Sakura thought angrily. _

Sasuke who knew that he shouldn't mess with Hyuuga Neji, said "Whatever, I enjoyed dancing with you,"

Then he walked over to the refreshment table to get a drink.

Then Neji took Sakura's hand and started to dance slowly with her.

"Sasuke, looked like that Hyuuga guy ruined your moment," said Kakashi.

"I can see that Kakashi-sensei," Sasuke replied calmly.

_I know who she is, but does she know it's me? _

Lee was walking around with Gai and asking girls to dance with him. All of them claimed to have danced enough already or were waiting for their boyfriends to come to the festival. Lee had had enough of their pathetic excuses!

"Gai-sensei, let's find Sakura-san!" Lee declared.

"That's my boy Lee!" Gai said cheerfully.

TenTen was still walking around looking for someone to dance with. Many guys had asked her to dance with them, but she declined them all. She didn't want to dance with them. She was still looking for _him._ But so far, she had no luck. Where was he?

"Asuma, do you have the courage to ask _her _now?" Iruka asked him impatiently. He had just finished dancing with Anko.

"Not really, Iruka," Asuma admitted.

"Good luck!" Iruka said and pushed Asuma to Kurenai.

"I've been looking for you all night!" Kurenai exclaimed.

"You have?" Asuma asked sounding surprised.

"Yeah. You're the only one I want to dance with. Gai's too embarrassing, Kakashi won't pay attention and Anko started to really like Iruka. You're the only suitable guy around here," Kurenai said with a little smile.

"Want to dance with me then?' Asuma asked confidently.

"I've been waiting all this time for you to say that," Kurenai said softly.

Asuma took her hand and took her out to the square.

"Hey! Look, Kurenai and Asuma are dancing!" Naruto said excitedly.

"I know, at last two instructors started dancing with each other. The rest are either too embarrassed to dance or not bothered to," Hinata said softly.

TenTen was still looking for _him _until she bumped into someone.

"Watch it!" He said sharply.

"I'm so so sorry!" TenTen said.

"Never mind. I'm used to it. Besides, do you want to dance with me?" He asked her.

"Why not?" TenTen said brightly. She grabbed his hand and found a spot on the square.

"I don't know how to dance," He said.

TenTen smiled and looked into his eyes. They were pretty dark brown ones. She pulled his hand and placed it on her hip. With his other hand, she held it with hers.

"Thanks," He said.

_I wonder who TenTen is dancing with? Ino thought. _

"What's wrong?" He asked.

"Nothing. Everything's perfect," Ino whispered. Then she placed her head onto his shoulder.

Kakashi smiled. He knew who everyone was dancing with. Now he was stuck with a sulky Sasuke. _So Sasuke does like her, he thought. This is just like out of one of my 'Come Come Paradise' books. Two men after one lady. Sigh. _

Sasuke leaned back against the wall. This was going to be a long night. And he was going to be stuck watching Neji dance with Sakura. Unless he had something to do about it. He smirked.

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**A/N: **How was that chapter? Was it good? Bad? Please tell me by your reviews. Thanks people! Til' the sixth chapter!

Next chapter: A dance in the moonlight part III


	6. Chapter VI

**A/N: **Hey there! Seems like ages since I last updated. I hope that the sixth chapter (this one) suits the entire plot of the story. As always, read this chapter and review! Arigatou!

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Naruto, I only own a couple of the DVD's and that's it.

**Chapter 6 – **A dance in the moonlight part III

"Lee! Quick, there's your chance! Go up to that girl and act like you own her!" Gai-sensei ordered.

"Yes Gai-sensei!" Lee cried and walked up to the girl.

"Youth is the best time of a man's life," Gai whispered to himself.

"Will you dance with me," Lee said in his gentleman tone.

"Yuck! Not you _again _Lee! I'm waiting for uh...my boyfriend to come! Yeah, that's it!" The girl lied quickly and ran off.

Lee, who again was rejected, walked back slowly to Gai. He felt hot tears starting to well up in his eyes. All he wanted to do this week was go to the Paper Lantern Night festival and dance with a girl. Any girl, as he wasn't picky. But, almost every single girl that he asked had said they either were waiting for someone or were too tired to dance with him. This just wasn't fair!

Gai sensed that there was some trouble in the atmosphere turned and saw his prized student crying. Of course, Gai had seen Lee struggle many times as he couldn't use any ninja's arts except for taijutsu which was normal combat. He'd never seen Lee struggling with love before. This was totally new to Gai. It hurt him to see his prized student in pain.

"Gai-sensei! Why does it have to be me?" Lee wailed.

"Lee, it just happens. Those girls are just stupid. They don't know what they're missing out on," Gai said grinning.

"Really?"

Meanwhile...

"So, why'd you decide to cut in on my dance?" Sakura asked.

The guy smirked. "Do you really need to know?"

Sakura shook her head. _This guy sure acts more mysterious than my first dancing partner. What's his problem anyway? She thought. _

He tightened his grip around her waist. "Ouch," he heard her mumble.

"Hinata? Is that you?" Naruto asked when they both stopped dancing.

_Oh my gosh! How'd he know that quickly? He wasn't supposed to know who I was until midnight on the last day of summer! Hinata thought quickly. _

She blushed madly. "Naruto-kun, how'd you know that it was me?"

"Easy Hinata! If any of the other flirty girls were dancing with me, they'd be sending dirty looks to Sasuke to get him jealous so that he'd be sorry for not liking them. You never even looked at Sasuke tonight. Ino would never dance with me and same with TenTen. Sakura would dance with me, but she doesn't want to. So that leaves you," Naruto explained happily.

She blushed madly again. _So, he knows a lot about me..._

"Who are you?" TenTen said looking into his chocolate brown eyes.

"Well, that explains the point of the masks doesn't it?" He said.

TenTen giggled. This guy was so much easier to talk to. When she had a crush on Neji, there wasn't a single topic that interested him. So she kept on having bad conversations with him. Then she got to the point where she realised that he would never ever like her for who she was. That caused her to try to leave Konoha. But her best friends in the world made her understand that leaving wouldn't make a difference and that they'd miss her like crazy!

_Flashback_

"_Neji! There you are!" TenTen called out. _

_Oh my god. It's her again. When will she get the message that I'm not interested in a relationship? Let alone a relationship with my team mate? Neji thought. _

"_What do you want now?"Neji asked coldly. _

"_To talk to you, duh!" TenTen said. _

"_Not happening TenTen. You're nice as a team mate, but not as a girlfriend," Neji pointed out. _

_TenTen felt tears coming out of her eyes. _

_End flashback. _

_Now why am I thinking of that moment? I'm meant to be having a nice time with the guy of my dreams! At least, I hope he is...thought TenTen. _

_She's got a pretty cute giggle. I think I recognise that cheeky smile..._

"Look, if you want to know who I am, you gotta be here for the final summer dance. Then at midnight, everyone reveals their masks. Get it?" He explained.

"Yeah. It sounds so simple once you explain it," TenTen said dreamily.

"Asuma, I think we're the only pair of instructors actually dancing with each other," Kurenai whispered.

"Are you getting embarrassed Kurenai?" He asked curiously.

She turned red. "Not at all Asuma! It's just that it's embarrassing when your students, ex-students and colleagues are watching your every move," Kurenai replied still blushing.

"Then let's give them the surprise of the night!" He said and when those words came out of his mouth he leaned down to give Kurenai a swift kiss on her lips.

"Go Asuma!" Choji yelled.

"Someone's blushing; I wonder who's the reddest?" Anko teased.

"Good on you Asuma!" Iruka cheered.

Kurenai blinked. Did Asuma just kiss her? She took her delicate white hand out of Asuma's grasp and touched her lips. This was _way _too good to be true.

Shikamaru sighed. Asuma was giving him that look again. The look that told him 'if I can do that, you can too'. _That means he expects me to kiss my dancing partner? If Ino found out about that, then she would never forgive me let alone talk to me ever again. And I mean ever! _

"Naruto-kun? Did you see Kurenai-sensei and Asuma kissing?" Hinata pointed to where Asuma and Kurenai were dancing.

"Huh? What's wrong Hinata? Are you tired of me already?" Naruto asked.

That was what Hinata liked most about Naruto. Most people would get frustrated and angry when Naruto acted clueless, but she loved it. His confused look only made him look cuter than he already was.

"Never mind...Naruto-kun,"

"Hinata? Want to take a break already? I'm hungry," Naruto said.

"Sure Naruto, but I definitely want to see everyone else dance tonight, ok?" Hinata whispered.

Willingly, he took Hinata's small lily white hand and held it in his own hand until he found a table for them to eat on.

"What do you want to eat Hinata?" Naruto asked.

"Umm...I don't mind Naruto-kun. You can choose," Hinata said softly.

"Ok Hinata! If you say so!" Naruto said gleefully. And when he said those words, he ran over to the huge buffet table and grabbed two plates and some cutlery. Then he walked swiftly over to each part of the buffet table to quickly take some food. By the time he came back, both the plates were piled so high with food that you could've skied off of them!

"Oh my god! I've never seen so much food in my life Naruto! How am I going to eat all of that?!" Hinata said in shock.

"Aw, come on Hinata! I didn't even take the tempura yet! Or the noodles! Or the deep fried vegetables! All I've got here is rice, sushi, some cakes and fried seafood!" Naruto pointed out.

Hinata let out a small laugh. She was going to have to get used to eating this much food if she wanted to date Naruto anytime in the future!

"Hmmm? Sasuke why aren't you out dancing with other girls?" Kakashi asked curiously.

"I was just about to ask you the same," Sasuke replied coolly.

_He just wants to dance with Sakura! How romantic, too bad the Hyuuga guy is dancing with her. I'm so bored without my novels, Kakashi thought. _

"Kakashi-sensei, if you're interested, Tsunade is still looking for a guy to dance with. Why don't you ask her instead of bugging me already?" Sasuke asked.

"Sasuke! The Fifth Hokage is twice my age! Plus, she looks young, but she is a 50 year old grandmother!" Kakashi said sighing with relief that Naruto told him that piece of information about Tsunade's age.

"Just in case you want to keep your options open sensei," Sasuke replied smirking.

Sasuke walked over to the huge buffet table. He filled a cup with some water and ice. _Cheers, Hyuuga Neji. _

Sasuke was looking around for Sakura and Neji, when he finally spotted a pink head in the dancing crowd. He swiftly made his way through the crowd and dodging people. He was just one metre away from Neji and Sakura. All he had to do was make sure that when he dropped the water Neji was to be near him. Otherwise the water and ice might wreck Sakura's kimono.

"I like this song, don't you?" Sakura asked her dancing partner.

"Yeah. Whatever," he replied.

_God! Can this guy actually talk in a normal conversation? Or is he anti-social? I definitely liked my first dancing partner better than this one! Sakura thought. _

Neji saw the scowl on her pretty face and he quickly changed the subject.

"So who's your instructor?" He asked.

"If I told you, you'd know who I am!" She replied giggling. _At least he's acting differently now then he was a couple of seconds ago. _

Neji felt something wet on his head. It felt like it was raining. This would totally wreck the scenery! Rain at the beginning of summer? Isn't that bad luck or something?

Sakura got her hands out of his grip. She put her hand over her mouth and began laughing. Someone was pouring water and ice on his head! Who was that person pouring though? Was it her first dancing partner?

_Yes! I finally got him when he was totally vulnerable! Sucked in Hyuuga! _

Neji turned around to see who the prankster was. It was definitely going to be Naruto. Naruto was exactly the type of person who loved getting attention. What the heck was he thinking pouring water and ice on his head? But he got the shock of his life when he turned around to meet Uchiha Sasuke's onyx eyes.

"Hey Naruto! Can I join you?" a voice called out. Naruto and Hinata turned to see who it was, but they saw no one.

"Hey Naruto, behind you,"

Naruto turned around again, only this time there was a huge face right in front of him. "AIIIIEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!" Naruto yelled.

"What the hell was that for Naruto? You could've turned me deaf!" He asked rubbing his ear.

"Choji? Is that you?" Hinata asked.

Choji turned around quickly to Hinata. "Girls are so smart these days. Even Ino figured out who I was and I was wearing this stupid mask!" Choji shrieked.

Naruto was clueless. What on earth was Choji going on about?

"Now that I found you guys, I have a favour to ask," Choji said helping himself to one of Naruto's sushi.

"What is it?" Hinata asked quietly.

"Well, I couldn't find someone to dance with, so I'm depressed. So can I dine with you guys?" Choji begged revealing some seaweed stuck on his teeth.

"No way! Go find Shikamaru and dine with him instead!" Naruto shouted.

"That's the problem. I can't find Shikamaru. Ino's disappeared too. And Asuma is dancing with Kurenai. So I have to dine with you!" Choji said proudly.

"This can't be happening to me!!!!!" Naruto yelled.

"Looks like they don't need any matchmaking any more Iruka," Anko whispered into his ear.

"Yeah. They're acting as if they're the only two people dancing in the square. The way that Asuma stares into Kurenai's eyes proves that he really cares about her," Iruka whispered back.

"Hey! They song changed again. It's a slow dance one. Want to dance again Iruka?" Anko said with a small smile.

"Why not? Let's show the two lovebirds that they've met their match!" Iruka said cheerfully.

Kakashi leaned back against the wall again. This was so boring to him! If only he had his book with him, then he could read about Tori and Lilaca's love adventure part two. _This is the worst night of my life! But then again it was kind of amusing when Sasuke dropped water and ice on the Hyuuga guy's head. He he, Sasuke's got guts. _

"Are you going to stand there being a wallflower all night Kakashi?" a voice from behind asked.

Kakashi looked around. Was that voice part of his imagination? Or was it for real?

"Kakashi. It's Chizune. The Fifth Hokage's assistant," Chizune said.

"Oh. Nice to meet you," Kakashi said absentmindedly.

"We already met remember? At the hospital when the Fifth healed you?" Chizune said snorting.

"Ok then. I forgot. What's that pink thing you're holding?" Kakashi asked.

"Obviously it's a pig. It's the Fifth's pet pig Ton-Ton," Chizune replied.

They continued on having a casual conversation.

"What the hell? Kakashi actually having a normal conversation with a _woman_?! Oh my god!" Naruto shrieked and tipped his rice with vegetables and meat all over Choji.

"What the hell was that for Naruto? Even if the rice tastes nice, you kind of wrecked my kimono!" Choji yelped.

Hinata giggled again. Watching them two was like watching a comedy show.

"So how's life going for you?" Shikamaru asked her.

"It's actually good. Except that I suffered heartbreak. Other than that, life's cool," She replied energetically.

Then she rested her head on his shoulder.

_Oh my god! If Ino saw her dancing with me, then she'd freak! _

"Want to take a break? Dancing to five songs in a row really tires you out," TenTen said exhaustedly.

"Yeah. Are you sure you're ok?" He asked.

TenTen smiled. He was so caring and gentle. "Yes I am," She said and gave him a friendly hug. He obviously hadn't hugged a girl before so he didn't know what to do. Soon he hugged her back.

"What the hell was that for?" Neji said trying to be calm.

He shrugged. "You deserved it,"

Sakura laughed a little harder. This was so unbelievable!

Neji said more swear words under his breath and walked off.

Sakura walked over to the guy and tapped him on the shoulder. "Want to dance?" She asked him.

He turned around and smiled warmly at her. He put his hands around her slim waist. "Why not?"

"Asuma, that kiss took me by surprise. I didn't know that you'd have enough courage for that little stunt you pulled," Kurenai teased gently.

"I had some help before. Besides, you don't kiss and tell do you?" Asuma said jokingly.

"Let me check. Nope, I don't," She said and they both laughed.

On the other side of the square...

"Gai-sensei, I've made up my mind," Lee said confidently.

"What is that Lee?" Gai asked curiously. What was he up to now?

"I'm not going to go around begging for girls to dance with me. I'm going to take after you and let the ladies come beg me," Lee said proudly.

Gai smiled showing his perfect white teeth. Lee did the same.

"Thanks for getting me out of that dance," Sakura said smiling.

"No problem. He kind of deserved it though," He said and they both laughed softly.

"You know what? This is a great festival. I used to love watching other people dancing..." Sakura said and then smiled.

_She's changed a lot since the last time I had an actual conversation with her. Is she the same annoying, fangirl that I used to know and hate? _

He smiled kindly. "Your eyes really sparkle underneath the lantern sky, you know?"

She blushed. "I'd love to stay underneath the lantern sky with you,"

He stopped dancing. _Was it something that I said? Isn't he ready for a relationship? Sakura thought. _

He held his finger up and pulled her chin up slowly. He smiled at her. He leaned closer and closer to her. Soon he was so close that if Sakura moved, she would've ended up kissing him. She did not want to kiss a mystery guy. Not yet anyway.

She moved closer to him. She closed her eyes and he closed his. She felt his lips touching hers.

AN: How was that chapter? Sorry if it sucks!

Next chapter: A kiss below the lantern sky.


	7. Chapter VII

**Chapter 7 – A kiss below the lantern sky **

**Disclaimer: ** I don't own Naruto!!

His lips were soft. Luckily for Sakura he wasn't a sloppy kisser. If he was she would've quickly ran away from him. He deepened the kiss which sent tingling sensations up her spine. She was lost in the warmth of his passionate kiss. This also happened to be Sakura's first kiss. With a stranger on a festival night.

_I wonder if Sakura knows that Sasuke-kun is kissing her right now…_Ino thought.

"Hey what's wrong?" He asked Ino as her face was full of concern.

_Would I really tell this guy about what happened between me and Shikamaru? Oh well, who cares about that Shikamaru anyway. I should just tell! _Ino thought.

"Well, before the Paper Lantern Night festival, I really liked this guy. I thought that he felt the same way too. And I told him how I felt about him. He didn't return my feelings! I'm so dumb and stupid!" Ino said tearfully.

The guy looked into her blue eyes sympathetically.

"Was this the heartbreak you were going on about earlier?" He asked gently.

Ino froze. Did she actually tell him about this before?

"Yeah, it is. I thought that this festival might cheer me up a bit," Ino said unhappily.

He wrapped his arms around her waist a bit tighter. "Are you still upset though?" He whispered.

_Whoa, this girl has some problem. Heartbreak! I wonder what kind of a guy would actually hurt her? _He thought.

"A little. He hurt me a lot." Ino whimpered.

Meanwhile…

"Kurenai? Can we take a break? I'm hungry," Asuma asked tiredly.

"Already? On missions, you last longer than this!" Kurenai said teasingly.

Asuma looked around the square. Not that many people were dancing anymore. Many people were eating, some probably went home (when the festival started, many people were dancing and most were tired at the end of the last song) and some were just hanging out and chatting casually with friends.

"Please Kurenai?" Asuma pleaded.

Kurenai laughed. "How can I resist that smile?"

"You can't resist!" Asuma said proudly and they both laughed quietly.

Asuma took Kurenai's hand and they both walked to the refreshment table for something to eat.

"I'm so sorry Chouji! What do I have to do to pay you back?" Naruto said quickly.

Chouji was furious. All of Naruto's rice, vegetables and meat were all over his father's kimono. His father was going to kill him and probably roast him for dinner! Why? Because Chouji's mother had sewn it as a present for his father's birthday and since his old kimono wouldn't fit him, he had to sneak into his father's room one night and take it. His father had many other kimonos and probably didn't know that his favourite one was missing.

"Naruto? Do you know how to sew?" Chouji asked impatiently.

"Chouji! Of course I don't! Why? Do you want me to sew you a kimono?!" Naruto replied rudely.

"Umm…Naruto-kun? I can teach you how…if you want to learn," Hinata said gently.

Naruto and Chouji turned around to see Hinata blushing like mad. "What'd you say Hinata?" Naruto asked with confusion.

Hinata blushed harder. "Nothing Naruto-kun,"

"Iruka, what do you think about me?" Anko asked.

Iruka started to cough at that moment. _What do I think of her? Actually, what do I really think of Anko anyway? _

"Iruka?"

"I think you're a great person Anko and you have a sparkling personality!" Iruka quickly blurted out.

Anko scowled. _I meant, what you think of me as in a relationship! Gosh Iruka, hanging out with kids too much really does permanently damage your love life! _

This might have been Sakura's first kiss, but it was one of the best! His lips were so soft and she never wanted the kiss to end. But it had to sometime. He parted away from her and opened his eyes. She also opened hers.

He smiled. "Good night stranger, I want to see you again soon," He said and then quickly kissed her cheek.

Sakura was left standing alone speechless. Two kisses in one night! She really wanted to hear those words and she also wanted for the both of them to stay below the lantern sky but it was getting dark. _I wonder if I should tell the others tonight at Ino's sleepover? Thinking of the sleepover, what time is it anyway? _

Someone tapped her on the shoulder. Was it the guy who got ice cubes and water all over his head? Sakura hoped that it wasn't! She turned around and saw TenTen!

"TenTen!" Sakura exclaimed.

"Who else would it be?" TenTen said with a smile.

"Look Sakura, it's nearly midnight and we have to find Ino and Hinata so we can actually get to Ino's house for the sleepover! I want to hear all the juicy details about all the guys you all danced with!" TenTen said squealing with delight.

"How am I meant to get Ino to stop dancing when she looks like she's in heaven right now?" Sakura asked pointing to Ino and her dance partner.

"Simple!" TenTen answered confidently.

What exactly was TenTen planning on doing? Other guys had asked Ino to dance with them, but Ino gave them all the cold shoulder. That's probably how much she liked _him. _ Even though she had no idea who he was because of their masks.

TenTen walked over to where Ino was dancing and whispered into her ear. Ino then got a shocked look on her face, but then it softened a bit.

TenTen than ran over to where Sakura was standing with a stunned look on her face.

"What just happened?" He asked.

Ino turned to him with an unhappy look. "I'm sorry that I can't explain to you. But something just came up!"

Ino then struggled out of his firm grasp and ran away from him.

Shikamaru just stared at the girl that just ran away from him.

_Was that for real? Or was it just planned right now? Shikamaru thought. _

Ino ran towards TenTen and Sakura.

"I can't believe that you got her to stop dancing with him!" Sakura exclaimed.

TenTen smiled her cheekiest smile. "Believe it now Sakura!"

Ino stepped in between the both of them. It was already bad enough that she had to leave him just to play hostess at her sleepover party. But listening to your friends talk about how they got you to stop dancing with the guy of your dreams was not funny business.

"Can we find Hinata already so we can go to my house for the sleepover?" Ino asked impatiently.

Sakura and TenTen stopped talking and looked over to Ino who had an annoyed look on her face.

Sakura smiled at her. "Sure Ino,"

"Hinata, I really thought that I heard you say something," Naruto said and rushed over to Hinata.

Hinata blushed as he looked into her eyes. She was still getting used to Naruto being so loving and caring. He was the sweetest guy that she knew.

"Naruto-kun, its nothing," Hinata whispered softly.

Naruto smiled gently at her.

"Is there something wrong Anko?" Iruka asked nervously.

Just then, when he told Anko that she was a terrific person with a sparkling personality she changed. She refused to look him in the eye, she ignored him when he tried to start a conversation, and she stepped on his foot to try to make him look like a fool. What was wrong with her?

Anko scowled again.

"I don't feel like dancing right now Iruka," Anko snapped and walked away from him.

Iruka was left standing there with a confused look on his face. What had just happened?

Gai saw this hilarious scene and walked over to where Iruka was standing.

"Iruka, Iruka, Iruka, what did I just see right now?" Gai asked gleefully.

Iruka mumbled something but Gai didn't hear that.

"What was that? I didn't exactly hear that," Gai asked joyfully.

Iruka frowned. How Kakashi could put up with Gai's nosiness was beyond anyone's imagination. He was way too nosy! That's probably why he wasn't in a long term relationship with anyone.

"None of your business Gai!" Iruka snapped and walked away.

Lee had seen what happened and walked over to his instructor.

"Gai-sensei, you have many girlfriends, but not many friends, how come?" Lee asked anxiously.

Gai looked down and saw Lee's smiling face. He wasn't in the mood right now to answer that stupid question! Couldn't anyone tell by the irritated look on his face?

"Idiot!" Gai yelled and punched Lee on his nose which sent Lee flying in the air.

Hinata then saw Ino, TenTen and Sakura waving frantically at her. What was wrong this time? She looked at the sky. It had turned really dark and the moon was shining at its brightest this night. _Was it time for the sleepover already? The sleepover! That's why they're waiting for me! Hinata thought. _

"Naruto-kun, I have plans tonight and I'll see you soon!" Hinata said quickly and kissed Naruto on the cheek.

_As long as its not plans to meet another guy Hinata, I'm not jealous! Naruto thought. _

Hinata than ran over to Ino, TenTen and Sakura and they started walking back to Ino's house.

Kakashi finally managed to stop talking to Shizune as, Tsunade-sama needed her to help out with something. Kakashi was glad about that Tsunade-sama needed Shizune. Talking to her was like talking to Gai about youth and all those crazy things that Gai insisted that would help maintain youth.

Uchiha Sasuke started to make his way home from the festival now. He had kissed Sakura and got Hyuuga Neji mad. What could be better than that?

_If Sakura found out that it was me kissing her, she'd probably never talk to me again, cos' I know that she's gotten over her crush on me…_

"How long until we get back to your house now Ino?" TenTen complained.

Ino looked at the houses and shops that were around them. "Not that long TenTen,"

Sakura was still lightly blushing. Even thinking about that kiss made her go red.

_Although, I really wonder who he was…_

The girls continued to walk along the roads, but luckily they were able to see where they were going because of the many lanterns that lit up the streets.

They turned and Ino was looking through her kimono trying to find the house keys. It took her a while to find them and when she did, Sakura, TenTen and Hinata sighed with relief. If Ino hadn't found the keys, they'd be stuck outside in the dark!

Ino opened the door and they all ran in after Ino closed the door and locked it.

"Finally!" Sakura exclaimed.

Ino, TenTen and Hinata were in the guest room relaxing while Sakura stared showering

_That guy that I danced with was so sweet! I wonder who he was though…TenTen thought. _

"Hinata? Do you know who I danced with?" Ino asked softly.

_Flashback _

_Hinata looked at the figure that was running towards her. It was Shikamaru and he looked troubled. What on earth would trouble him this time? _

"_What's wrong Shikamaru-kun?" Hinata asked when he stopped running. _

"_Ino told me that she likes me. But I told her that I already have a date for the festival and that l don't like her! This is troublesome! What do I do?" Shikamaru asked. _

_Hinata sighed. Ino trusted her and told her everything, Ino even told her that she confessed to him that she liked him, but he had told her that he already had a date for the festival. Right now, Ino felt like a thousand rocks had fallen on her and she felt that she'll never be able to recover from it. _

_Wounds will heal, the scars will fade, but the memories will last forever…Hinata thought. _

_Hinata looked up at Shikamaru. "Shikamaru-kun, she likes you but she feels heartbroken right now," _

"_Can't you help me Hinata? I like her, but I don't know how to tell her yet!" Shikamaru pleaded. _

_Hinata smiled sympathetically at Shikamaru. "I know that I shouldn't be telling you this, but you know how Ino didn't want to go to the festival? She will be and she'll be wearing a red kimono with a lighter shade of red obi. Please don't hurt her again Shikamaru-kun," _

_Shikamaru looked at Hinata happily. He would be able to tell her that he really liked her and cared so much for her at the festival. _

"_Thanks Hinata!" Shikamaru said and he ran off. _

_I wonder what will happen now that I told Shikamaru that she'll be at the festival and what type of kimono she'll be wearing? Hinata thought. _

_End Flashback. _

Ino looked over to Hinata. Why was she so quiet? Ino knew that she was quiet, but not ever _this _quiet.

"I have no idea Ino, I mean with the masks and all," Hinata said quickly.

Ino looked disappointed but continued to stare out the window.

Hinata felt bad. She hated lying to people, especially to her best friends and Naruto. But she had to this time. Just this once.

TenTen had found a magazine hidden beneath some pillows and began reading it.

Sakura walked out of the shower wearing her pyjamas which consisted of white shorts and a blue singlet top as it was summer after all. Her hair was wet, but she used Ino's hair dryer to make it warm and dry.

"Ino? Are you still upset about what happened between you and Shikamaru-kun?" Hinata asked quietly.

Ino stopped staring out the window and looked at Hinata. She was still upset about it, but meeting that guy this night made her pain and anger disappear for a while.

"I'm still upset about it Hinata, but it doesn't bother me that much anymore," Ino replied gently.

Hinata was quiet for a while.

_If Ino knew that she was dancing with the guy that broke her heart, she'd freak out! And if she found out that I told him that she'd be there, she'd never forgive me! Hinata thought. _

TenTen looked up from the magazine that she was reading. Both Ino and Hinata were quiet. Weren't they just bursting to tell the rest about their night?

Sakura walked into the guest room where they would be having their sleepover party. She found a spot on one of the sleeping bags and sat down. This was going to be one long night!

Next chapter: Can you keep a secret?


End file.
